July 5, 2022 Highland Park, Illinois, parade shooting news

When Steve Tilkin first heard gunshots at the July Fourth parade in Highland Park, Illinois, it was his 13-year-old granddaughter who jumped into action first.

"I have no experience in gunshots, but I thought they were just fireworks," Tilkin said. This was the moment his granddaughter, who had been through active shooter drills, grabbed her 9-year-old brother and dove to the ground, shielding him.

He said he and his wife were standing "in a state of shock." Soon, he and his wife both dove on top of both of the kids, trying to protect them from the gunfire.

Tilkin said he thinks the shots came from the rooftop of a building across the street from where they were standing. Police have said the shooting suspect fired more than 70 rounds from the roof of a business, although they have not disclosed a specific location.

Once the gunfire subsided, Tilkin and his family ran into a nearby store where a crowd of people was sheltering. The business owners helped everyone get into the basement, away from the storefront.

After police swept the basement where they were hiding, searching for the shooting suspect, Tilkin got his first look at the aftermath outside.

"I went to the window at the front, just to look out, and I saw there was a body there, about eight feet from where we were standing and that body was surrounded by a pool of blood and I realize how close we were to getting shot," he said.

Illinois law enforcement interacted with shooting suspect Robert E. Crimo III twice before a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park on Monday, police said.

Crimo is in custody and has not yet been charged in connection to the shooting.

Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli, a spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said in April 2019, someone contacted the Highland Park Police Department a week after learning that Crimo had attempted to die by suicide.

Since it was a delayed report, Covelli said police went to his house and spoke with Crimo and his parents.

"The matter was being handled by mental health professionals at that time. There was no law enforcement action to be taken. It was a mental health issue handled by those professionals," Covelli said.

He said the second interaction happened in September 2019 when a family member reported that Crimo had a collection of knives and he said "he was going to kill everyone."

"The police responded to his residence. The police removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from Crimo's home," Covelli said, adding that at that time, there was no probable cause to arrest Crimo because there were no complaints that were signed by any of the victims.

Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli, a spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said Tuesday that investigators are looking for a person they believe saw shooting suspect Robert E. Crimo III drop his rifle after the shooting at the Highland Park, Illinois, parade.

Covelli confirmed the object inside the red blanket was a rifle. The official said police haven't been able to identify the witness yet, but said if the person hears this request, to please call 1-800-Call-FBI.

All but one of the victims of the Highland Park parade mass shooting were identified Tuesday during a news conference.

Here are the names of the victims, according to Lake Country Coroner Jennifer Banek:

A seventh victim died from injuries Tuesday. Their name has not yet been released.

Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli, a spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said the state attorney's office is expected to announce charges against the shooting suspect during a news conference at 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. CT).

"We anticipate an announcement of charges at this time," Covelli said.

The shooting suspect remains in custody following the deadly shooting of at least seven people at a Highland Park, Illinois, Fourth of July parade on Monday.

A Highland Park, Illinois, grandmother says she is “done” with gun violence after being forced to hide with her family as a gunman opened fire Monday during a 4th of July parade.

Bobbie Katz Hinden told CNN on Tuesday that she has been attending Highland Park’s 4th of July parade for 30 years. 

She was celebrating the holiday with her two adult children and her 3-year-old grandson.

Katz Hinden says more needs to be done to prevent these acts of violence.

“This morning when I told my kids that I was going to join you. They were shocked that I said yes. And they said ‘Mom, just tell your story. Don't be political.’” Katz Hinden told CNN. “But I do have to share with you that I'm done. I don't want people's prayers. I don't want their sympathy. We have to do something about this."

When asked if she would ever take her grandson to a parade again, Katz Hinden told Alisyn Camerota: “That's a really good question. I'd like to think that my life can go on.”

Katz Hinden, who also runs a childcare center in the area, says they are doing their best to make sure the community gets the healing it needs.

At least seven people were killed in the shooting and dozens have been injured, officials say

A seventh victim has died from Monday’s fatal mass shooting during a parade in Highland Park, Illinois, Mayor Nancy Rotering tells CNN. 

According to an update from the NorthShore University Health System, a total of 39 people were received at four hospitals from the shooting yesterday.

Maggie Schmieder, 40, was sitting with her family and friends in front of the Dairy Queen in Highland Park, Illinois, along the parade route and described the moments after the shooting more as “chaotic calm” than terror or panic.

“People weren’t like sprinting or diving down,” she said. “It was like there was this confusion, but people automatically started going.”

She and her family fled the area and eventually made their way to their car before driving away from the scene safely.

Schmieder works as a teacher and said she has prepared for a mass shooting at her school.

She told CNN that she moved to Highland Park eight years ago, a year after the city’s 2013 move to ban assault rifles, a push that played into her decision to relocate.

“One of the reasons we sought out Highland Park and chose to live here was due to some of those strict ideas about gun laws, safety, a relatively liberal, forward-thinking, educated community that we felt safe raising our children in,” she said. “I think now the takeaway here is that, while everything that could have been done possibly in terms of those laws, and police presence that was there, and preparedness, and it still wasn’t preventable. It still wasn’t stopped.”

She agreed with Highland Park’s mayor saying that the patchwork of gun laws makes restrictions difficult on a local level.

“Our laws tried to protect the citizens and reflect our values here, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cross county lines, cross-town lines, cross state lines and bring these weapons back in,” she said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, along with Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly and other leaders, reacted to the shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, as they discussed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act at Aunt Martha's Southeast Chicago Community Health Center.

At least six people were killed in the shooting during a 4th of July parade, and dozens have been injured, officials said. The shooting suspect, who has not been charged, was taken into custody Monday evening. He used a "high-powered rifle" in the attack, police said.

President Biden in June signed into law the first major federal gun safety legislation passed in decades, marking a significant bipartisan breakthrough on one of the most contentious policy issues in Washington. The legislation came together in the aftermath of recent mass shootings at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school and a Buffalo, New York, supermarket that was in a predominantly Black neighborhood.  

"This act also closes what is known as the boyfriend loophole by broadening limits on firearm purchases by people who have abused romantic and intimate partners," she added. 

Rep. Kelly also spoke about the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and "why we have to keep working. 

"Just yesterday in Highland Park, we lost six people to gun violence," she said. "People were there just to enjoy their Independence Day weekend." The lawmaker added the suspect "tore their worlds apart with a gun."

According to Kelly, an important aspect of the bill for Chicago is the community violence intervention. 

"We can pass all the laws that we want, but if we don't invest in our young people, we don't invest in our neighborhood, if we don't invest in our communities, those gun laws are not going to mean a whole lot," she said. "This new law includes a direct $250 million investment in community violence, intervention, funding and investments into many of the programs to curb violence."